Installation guide

CHAPTER 3 Using the VMware Management Interface to Manage Your Virtual Machines
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Editing a Virtual Machine’s
Configuration File Directly
There are two ways in which you can edit specific configuration options for a virtual
machine.
• On the Options tab for a specific virtual machine, you can add and change
configuration options. For more information, see Modifying the Configuration
File Directly (Advanced Users Only) on page 141.
• You can also edit a virtual machine’s configuration file (.vmx) by using a text
editor in the service console. This lets you add, change and remove elements of
a virtual machine’s configuration.
Caution: Modifying a configuration file by using a text editor is recommended
for advanced users only. The virtual machine must be powered off. You should
back up your virtual machine’s configuration file before modifying it with a text
editor.
Changing Your Virtual SCSI Adapter
By default, ESX Server assigns the BusLogic virtual SCSI adapter to Linux, Windows NT
4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional guest operating systems. Similarly, ESX
Server assigns the LSI Logic SCSI virtual adapter to Windows 2003 Server guest
operating systems.
You can change these default settings by editing the virtual machine’s configuration
file through the management interface (as described in Modifying the Configuration
File Directly (Advanced Users Only) on page 141).
1. Look for lines similar to the following in the virtual machine’s configuration file:
scsi0.present = “TRUE”
scsi0.virtualDev = “vmxbuslogic”
scsi0.sharedBus = “none”
2. Change the virtual SCSI adapter to your choice. For example, for the
scsi0.virtualDev option, change “vmxbuslogic” to “vmxlsilogic”.
3. Click OK to save your change and close the Options window.
Note: If you change a virtual machine’s virtual SCSI adapter to a custom adapter,
your choice is retained if you change the guest operating system in the virtual
machine.